They drove in silence for a while, with even the exuberant Petra keeping quiet. Of course, unlike the awkward silence they’d experienced before, this felt more like the moments leading up to an execution. At least to Daniel. As he looked outside at the scenery passing by, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the scene in a movie where the victim gets driven into the forest at night.

  But she wouldn’t do that, right?

  Daniel took a sidelong look at Samantha. She looked rather calm, but that meant that she was either not that angry, or very angry.

  “I’m not angry.” Samantha said.

  He blinked in surprise.

  “It’s written all over your face.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “Alright.” She said, sighing. “Why don’t you explain the real situation for me?”

  At this, Daniel had a brilliant idea. A masterful dodge to the deathblow no doubt coming his way.

  “Actually, I think Michael has a better idea of this whole thing...”

  “Don’t you dare try to deflect this onto someone else, Daniel.” Samantha snapped.

  Daniel felt a little hurt. He could only know less than Michael and Petra did.

  “Ahem,” Petra coughed in the backseat. “My name is Petra Astraea. Can I- May I have the honor of know your name, young lady?”

  Whether knowingly or not, the fairy was acting uncharacteristically polite, perhaps in an attempt to calm down the irate driver.

  “...Samantha.” She said curtly. “So... what are you?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? I’m a fairy!” Petra answered, chest puffing up with pride.

  “Uh..." Samantha said, eyes flickering to the rearview mirror, as if making sure she knew what she was seeing. "Yeah, I can see that.”

  “Wow, did you hear that, Daniel? Not everyone on your planet’s an idiot!”

  “I know what a fairy is, everyone knows. But everyone also knows they aren’t real.” Daniel countered. “They’re just folk tales from about 1000 years ago.”

  “Mmm, that just about lines up.” Petra said, counting on her fingers. “Our planet won the... 5th last competition, which would’ve been... about 1500 earth years ago! There would've been a lot of tourists visiting after that, though I guess we got sick of it after a while.”

  That made too much sense, to the point where it made him uncomfortable.

  “Hold on, what competition? What are you even talking about?” Samantha asked, bewildered.

  “Well, apparently, every so often the Galactic Empress dies-”

  “There’s a galactic empress?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I said. Anyway, when she dies, they have a big contest on earth to decide who the next one is.”

  “Oh, actually it’s not always on Earth, it’s on other planets sometimes.” Michael interjected. “But there aren’t that many, so it ends up cycling back to Earth a lot.”

  Daniel turned to the brown-haired teenager with a raised eyebrow, and Samantha looked at him through the rearview mirror. Flustered with the sudden attention, he shrunk in his seat.

  “...That’s what Petra told me before.”

  “Well, yeah. Kind of a big coincidence we’re here now.” The fairy affirmed. “Usually, we don’t go through empresses this fast... It’s been kind of a dicey millennium, apparently.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “...Right.” Samantha said. “But, like... how exactly do you decide who wins the contest?”

  “We fight! And then we take these rings,” the fairy replied, showing off her heart-shaped ring. “They fuse together, somehow. Whoever has the biggest ring in the end wins!”

  Samantha was silent for a while, processing all the information.

  “Why do you need to fight at all, though? Why not just put it down to a vote?”

  “Hm... I don't know. But it’s funner this way!”

  “That fun almost got you killed today.” Daniel reminded her.

  “Wait, what-”

  “Did not!" The fairy said, pouting. "She was nowhere close to hitting us, right Michael?”

  “My legs were 5 minutes from giving out when we got to the park.”

  “Ugh, you need to work on your fitness...”

  “Daniel, what was that about getting killed!?”

  “They got attacked by another contestant. It was a little girl about this high,” he said, indicating it with his hand. “She started chucking ice spears at us.”

  Samantha thought for a moment, gathering the pieces of the puzzle.

  “So, they got attacked, and I guess they called you, and then you got attacked together.” She said after some time.

  “Yeah, that’s about right.” Daniel said, nodding.

  “Daniel, don't you know what taking care of yourself means?”

  Things were taking a dangerous turn, so he gave the bag on his lap a quick pat.

  “It’s alright, I had this with me.”

  “...A bag?” She said, taking a brief glance.

  The bag squirmed as something inside it moved, and the creature revealed itself as it emerged from the cloth bag. Samantha jerked the wheel in surprise when she saw it.

  “Jesus Christ, that thing’s been in here the whole time!?” She cursed.

  The green car briefly veered into the bike lane, scraping the curb before she managed to correct their course. Petra let out a surprised woah as she rolled around the back seat. Thankfully, Michael managed to catch her before she hit something.

  “For god’s sake, can you give me a warning first!?” Samantha yelled at Daniel. “Ugh, that thing gives me the creeps.”

  “Sorry,” Daniel said, untangling the creature’s legs from his arm.

  He tapped the creature on the head, and it seemed to get the picture as it burrowed back into the bag.

  “So yeah, I had Tabitha with me, it was pretty safe.”

  “Mr. Daniel, your naming sense is a bit...” Michael piped up from the backseat.

  Daniel frowned. What was wrong with Tabitha? It was a good name then, and it was a good one now.

  “...Still, you shouldn’t have to put yourself in danger.” Samantha said, steering the conversation back on track.

  Daniel shrugged.

  “I can’t just pretend I haven’t met them. That’s what you told me, right?”

  Distressingly, what Petra had told him that fateful night was becoming more and more true – as long as the creature was by his side, it would be very difficult for him to remain uninvolved. Not like that would stop him from trying, though.

  “Couldn’t you just have called the police, or something?”

  “And tell them what?” Daniel asked pointedly. “Right now, you’re the only person I can trust with something like this.”

  Samantha let out a long sigh.

  “Fair enough.” She said, slowing the car down.

  The green hatchback stopped in front of a small house. It was a gray concrete building that was practically a mirror image of the one next to it, almost joined together by the wall. The number on the mailbox read 1/27.

  “Huh, you live in a unit?” Daniel asked Michael.

  “Oh, yeah. This is my house” The brown-haired teenager said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

  “Hey, Michael, wait a second.” Samantha said, stopping him before he could get out of the car.

  She pulled open the glove department and fished out a business card from it, handing it over to the brown-haired teenager.

  “Here, just in case. Calling me should be a bit better than that dolt.”

  As the dolt in question, Daniel couldn’t only sit quietly in his seat. Michael and Petra read the business card together.

  “Blue River Fishmonger... Samantha Fischer?”

  “That’s me.” She affirmed. “For the record, I manage a fish shop because I like doing it, not because I’m a fisher. Got it?”

  Michael suddenly laughed, and Samantha frowned.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Sorry, Ms. Samantha, it’s just that Mr. Daniel almost did the exact same thing when we met.” He admitted. “You two act like an old married couple.”

  Daniel thought for a moment. While the way he put it was somewhat tasteless, he was a teenager who didn’t understand the circumstances, so it was acceptable. After all, he did give them his business card the first time they met.

  “Guess we’re more alike than we thought.” Daniel said, turning to the young woman beside him, only to find her hiding her face. “Samantha?”

  “Not a word.” She said, as the tips of her ears went red.

  “...I didn’t see anything.”

  She wordlessly restarted the engine and pulled away from the curb. Michael smiled, and Petra waved from the palm of his hand as they pulled out towards the main road. Daniel stayed quiet for both of their sakes, and Samantha took the time to compose herself. As they drove along, Samantha occasionally glanced his way. After a while, she let out a soft sigh.

  “You know Daniel, you’ve gotten better, recently.”

  “Yeah?” Daniel said, watching the houses fly by his window.

  “...Yeah.”

  She lapsed back into silence after that, letting Daniel mull it over. He didn’t feel any different, really, but he supposed he had been getting out more, and talking to more people. The bag shifted on his lap, and he gave it a reassuring pat.

  While he had been reluctant to change for a while, the shakeup to his daily routine didn’t feel too bad. Perhaps he could go on for a little longer.